


when i'm with you (it's like everything glows)

by madnessiseverything



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Magic, Widofjord Valentine's Day Exchange, its just v... cute ok, some good soft shit yall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 08:37:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17784113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madnessiseverything/pseuds/madnessiseverything
Summary: The door of the apartment squeaks, the hinges still in desperate need of oil. Fjord’s lips pull into a wide smile. Soft zemnian swears and the clatter of keys hitting the small bowl next to the door fill the living room. Fjord waits, lets his head fall to the side so that he has the bedroom door in sight. It doesn’t take long until a hunched figure shows up in the door frame, shrugging off a dripping jacket. “Hi,” comes the soft greeting and Fjord knows he is beaming, can feel it in the way his cheeks begin to hurt.or the one where fjord is cuddly and caleb makes some colorful lights.





	when i'm with you (it's like everything glows)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [strandedAeronaut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/strandedAeronaut/gifts).



> so this fic was written as a gift for the widofjord valentines day exchange! so it's just a bunch of cuteness and cuddles :D hope you enjoy! 
> 
> title from waking up slow - gabrielle aplin

The rain slams against their bedroom window, the flimsy curtain filtering the yellow street light into a flickering streak of light across their bed. Fjord finds himself once more wishing someone would repair the damn thing already. He stares at the ceiling, the occasional headlight glare passing through the window as a car rushes by. Gods, he misses the ocean. He drifts in the memory of rain pelting the waves for a few seconds, grey water slamming into piers and boats; showcasing the violence of the ocean beautifully as waves crash onto the deck in front of Fjord.    
  
Fjord blinks and sighs as the ceiling comes back into focus. With the nostalgia comes the feeling of saltwater in his lungs and the cold stabs of fear. He shakes his head. Not today. He stretches his arms above his head, wriggles his toes as he spreads out even wider on the mattress and inhales the smell of fresh sheets.

The door of the apartment squeaks, the hinges still in desperate need of oil. Fjord’s lips pull into a wide smile. Soft zemnian swears and the clatter of keys hitting the small bowl next to the door fill the living room. Fjord waits, lets his head fall to the side so that he has the bedroom door in sight.    
  
It doesn’t take long until a hunched figure shows up in the door frame, shrugging off a dripping jacket. “Hi,” comes the soft greeting and Fjord knows he is beaming, can feel it in the way his cheeks begin to hurt.    
  
“Hi.”    
  
Caleb smiles softly, hands running through damp hair. Fjord lets his eyes wander down to Caleb’s crumpled dress shirt as his boyfriend shifts to hang up the jacket. “It’s coming down heavy outside,” Caleb huffs, stepping into their bedroom fully, already unbuttoning the vest he insists makes him look more professional. “Of course it started right when I left the campus.”    
  
Fjord’s eyes get stuck on Caleb’s hands and he hums, watching them fumble with the white button he had added onto the row of black ones the vest had originally come with. “It’s been real atmospheric here,” he says then, looking back up to meet Caleb’s gaze.    
  
“Have you just been lying here like that?” Caleb asks, amusement playing over his features. Fjord wiggles his fingers and shrugs.    
  
“Maybe.”    
  
“It sure is a sight to come home to.” Caleb drops the vest and straightens the pullover underneath. Fjord tilts his head, heat rising slowly into his cheeks as he lets Caleb look down at him. There is a fondness in Caleb’s eyes that always makes Fjord’s heart skip a beat or two and makes his chest tighten yet fill with a warmth that makes his skin tingle.    
  
“C’mere,” he finally whispers and pats the mattress next to him. Caleb’s smile grows wider, mischief sparkling in his eyes. Before Fjord can brace himself, Caleb drops on top of him, knocking the air out of his lungs. Fjord wheezes out a laugh, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. “Ow.”    
  
“Hi,” Caleb whispers, nuzzling into Fjord’s shoulder. Fjord melts, aware that the softness bleeds into his face. Caleb has that effect on him, he muses. He presses a kiss to Caleb’s hair and sighs contently.    
  
“Hi,” he repeats back. “Missed you.”    
  
“We saw each other this morning,” Caleb says, muffled against Fjord’s neck. Fjord folds his hands on Caleb’s back and exhales. Caleb props up his head and smiles. “I missed you too, Grünbär.”    
  
Fjord blows a raspberry into the air at the nickname and Caleb laughs. Thin fingers run over Fjord’s collarbones before gently tapping against the side of his neck. “How are you?”    
  
“Oh, you know, bored,” Fjord starts, glancing down at Caleb. Caleb looks back with half a smile hanging off of his lips, head tilted to the side not unlike that devil cat he likes to feed on Thursdays. The flickering street light throws shadows over his face. “Waiting for my beloved to come home so I can cuddle him to the sound of the rain like a real romantic.”    
  
Caleb purses his lips. “I do hope he gets home soon then. You look like you might waste away otherwise.” His brows are pulled together, the furrow that signified worry comical in this situation. “We cannot have that.”    
  
“Oh definitely not, who else will cook red snapper in the only way he likes? He would be devastated.” Fjord can’t keep the grin off of his face anymore, traces of laughter following his every word. Caleb pouts, bottom lip sticking out. Fjord doesn’t resist the urge to raise his head from the pillow just enough to plant a kiss onto the pout. “Don’t look at me like that.”    
  
“I am not that picky,” Caleb mumbles, the pout already stretching into a bright smile before the sentence is even over. “You are very good at ruining every other version out there with your skills.”    
  
“Flattery will get you everywhere here, darling. How was your day?”    
  
Caleb drifts into a mix of excitement and annoyance, retelling his day with his arms crossed on Fjord’s chest and legs tangled, Fjord’s hands still folded on the small of his back. Fjord watches as Caleb flaps his hands against his chest, eyes sparkling with that specific kind of joy only research brought. He drinks in words he absolutely does not know the meaning of, lets Caleb wiggle out of his grasp after a while to curl against his side instead. He listens intently, affection filling every cell in his body as Caleb continues to ramble about the flow of time.

After a while, Caleb’s words drift off to the devil cat, Frumpkin, who seems to be getting picky with the food he eats. Fjord finds his focus drawn back to Caleb’s hands, one gesticulating while the other rests on Fjord’s stomach, fingers tangled with Fjord’s own. They are so very thin compared to Fjord’s, delicate where his are thick and calloused. And yet, he thinks, they hold so much power. Fjord gently pulls their hands up closer and turns them, running his thumb over Caleb’s palm, following the lines. Sometimes he thinks he can feel the magic humming just underneath the skin, ready to pour out into the world.    
  
“Fjord?” He turns his head to find Caleb looking at him curiously, words about Frumpkin’s dietary habits still hanging in the air.    
  
“Sorry,” Fjord mutters, blushing. “I got distracted.” He drops their hands onto his chest. Caleb smiles and squeezes his hand.    
  
“Is there something on your mind?”    
  
Fjord licks his lips before pulling the bottom lip between his teeth, worrying on it as he shifts the words around in his head. “Could you maybe… do the light thing?” He doesn’t know why it comes out less smooth than it sounded in his head, but Caleb smiles all the same.    
  
“Of course.” He leans up to kiss Fjord before flopping fully onto his back. His left hand keeps holding onto Fjord’s as he raises his right towards the ceiling. Fjord sneaks his right arm underneath Caleb’s neck and lets his hand rest on his clavicle, fingertips sneaking just underneath the collar of Caleb’s shirt.    
  
“Impress me,” he grins and he can just catch Caleb rolling his eyes before a burst of light draws his attention up. A spiral of soft green light spheres dance along the ceiling, snaking their way around the single glow star stuck to the ceiling above their bed. Three spheres start circling the star slowly, while the remainder of the chain hover around them at varying distances. Fjord tightens his hold on Caleb’s hand.    
  
He doesn’t quite know why the lights always feel like a flower blooming inside his ribcage, serenity spreading through his veins. He suspects it has something, if not everything, to do with the man behind the lights. The sheer elegance of Caleb when he spins magic threads into sigils or lets foreign words roll off his tongue never fails to mesmerize Fjord. He’s joked about being spellbound before and the memory makes him smile. And he can’t deny, there is a childish joy to watching colorful lights dance just for them.    
  
The color changes slowly from the green into a turquoise, then muted blue, almost grey. Fjord’s heart skips. The ocean.    
  
“You miss it, right?” Caleb asks as the chain of light spreads out, each sphere wandering off into a corner. 

Fjord swallows audibly and buries his face in Caleb’s hair. “I do.” The admission feels heavy, heavier than Fjord wishes it to be.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Caleb’s voice is calm, the question soft. 

Fjord thinks. By the gods, he misses the ocean. He knows Caleb has only seen it in passing and shit, they should remedy that at some point. Caleb would love the sea, Fjord knows. An involuntary smile sneaks its way onto Fjord’s face as he imagines Caleb at the beach. But the taste of saltwater makes him hesitate. He shifts, fingertips circling gently over Caleb’s shoulder.

“I don’t know,” he sighs. “It’s… complicated.” 

“Okay,” Caleb says and switches the lights to purple. Fjord distantly notes that the street light seems to have truly given up, the only light in their room now produced by Caleb. “I was thinking,” the wizard says, as if the air hadn’t gotten heavy with untold stories, “we should check out the- the new African place that opened up downtown. Nott insists that I will love it.” 

“Oh, right!” Fjord remembers walking past the place, remembers various friends speaking about the family that runs it. He accepts the change of topic gratefully. “Saturday?” 

“Sounds like a plan.” 

They drift into silence after that, Caleb changing the colors and patterns of the light from time to time, shifting the spheres to form figures and creating interesting shadows. Fjord watches and lets himself breathe, feels Caleb’s pulse against the side of his hand and allows his ribcage to expand with calm. Caleb’s free hand presses against his sternum and Fjord doesn’t loosen his grip, holding on like a lifeline as he knows he tends to do.    
  
Caleb’s lights twist around each other, creating dancing creatures. Fjord can’t help but chuckle. “The circus, huh?” He turns his head enough to catch sight of Caleb’s face, deep in contemplation. Caleb shrugs, right hand moving in patterns that will never fail to amaze Fjord, spinning tales with the light above them.    
  
“Remembering,” he says softly and Fjord smiles. He presses a kiss to Caleb’s cheek and looks back to the ceiling in time for the lights to shift into individual colors, slowly spinning around each other. Not unlike their friend group, back when they first met. He watches the light green and orange light circle each other and finds himself on the edge of laughter.    
  
“What?” Caleb asks, blue eyes wandering over to look at Fjord. “Why are you laughing?”    
  
“We were such dumbasses,” Fjord gets out, pointing up with their joined hands.    
  
“One could argue that we still tend to be,” Caleb says, the grin now audible. He shifts and drops his head onto Fjord’s shoulder. The lights hover, throwing their many colors against the white walls and across their faces as Fjord looks back at Caleb. Soft eyes reflect every single fiber of the love Fjord feels right back at him. He thinks back to a time where they hid behind walls too thick and nudges Caleb’s head with his chin.    
  
Caleb smiles, small and reserved, and closes his eyes. “I love you,” he mumbles and Fjord echoes the statement back, knowing that he couldn’t hide the emotions spilling out with it.    
  
“Love you too, Cay.” He tilts his head to let his lips rest against Caleb’s forehead and closes his eyes to mirror his boyfriend. Their legs tangle and even behind closed lids Fjord can see the kaleidoscope of colors their bedroom turns into on nights like this.    
  
Time drifts and Fjord doesn’t know how much of it passes until he speaks again. He keeps his eyes closed and breathes in the smell of rain and books. He swallows, exhales.

“We should visit the coast someday.” He doesn’t move a muscle, waits. Caleb shifts in his grasp ever so slightly. He feels Caleb drop a kiss against his throat and forces himself to relax.    
  
“I’d like that,” comes Caleb’s steady reply. Fjord opens his eyes to find Caleb propped up and looking down at him. He smiles hesitantly and Caleb smiles back, raising one hand to brush over Fjord’s cheek. “I have a few free days in a month. We can… have a weekend getaway.”    
  
“Yeah,” Fjord agrees, the icy worry in his lungs being replaced with warm excitement, bubbling up into his throat. “You’ll love it.” He thinks back to the many nights spent sitting and watching the waves. “I don’t think I know a quieter place on earth.”    
  
“I’m certain I will.” Caleb leans down and Fjord sinks into their kiss. He wraps his arms fully around Caleb, smiling when Caleb mumbles nothings against his lips. Caleb’s hands are warm against his cheeks and their apartment not big enough to fill with all the memories Fjord knows they will continue to make. The taste of salt doesn’t seem quite as frightening anymore, he thinks distantly, not if Caleb is by his side. They will be fine.

“Oh,” Caleb says - no, breathes- into the kiss. Fjord opens his eyes and finds their room plunged into darkness. He laughs, Caleb huffing exasperatedly against his cheek.    
  
“Lost concentration, did you, darling?”    
  
“Shut up, Grünbär. Come back here.”    
  
Yes, Fjord muses. They will be just fine, just like they have been in the past. The ocean will just be another place to remember Caleb and himself by. And, he thinks with excitement, he can’t wait. 

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: caleb's nickname for fjord here (Grünbär aka green bear) is a teeny tiny nod to a german fantasy novel that i absolutely adore. because i am a dork.  
> feel free to drop by my [cr twitter](https://twitter.com/nottanycritter) or [cr tumblr](https://nottanothercritter.tumblr.com/) for some quality cr content.


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